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Ideas

Long and Unedited

The long unedited podcast’s appeal comes from the perceived intimacy of sitting in on conversations with a friend and a potential new friend.

ideal and realWhat do podcasts by Joe Rogan or Chris Ryan, for example, have in common?

Their podcasts are long unedited conversations, usually with interesting people. Each one is one to three hours long and you’ll hear everything you’d hear if you were sitting right there too.

Before internet podcasts there were only network programs on licensed radio stations. They needed to appeal to a broad audience instead of to like-minded people. Radio talk shows went after the largest common denominator, so broadcasters put on whatever got rewarded by advertising dollars. There wasn’t much deviation from a predetermined focus.

The difference is the same you’d see comparing a Barbie doll as she’s sold, with a Barbie doll with normal proportions. It’s the ideal versus the real.

Now days there’s a lot more choice. Almost anyone within like-minded group can have a podcast that appeals to that group. If a podcast gets some traction the show might attract some advertising, but podcasts generally are driven by the interests of a like-minded group.

The long unedited podcast’s appeal comes from the perceived intimacy of sitting in on conversations with a friend and a potential new friend. That could happen on a radio broadcast, but it happens a lot on podcasts.